Acquired Taste
by AshCarroll aka ShadowDiva
Summary: [RayNeela] 'I thought you hated pepperoni.'


_Notes: I got this idea chatting with Ozma about Jonny Was and Shane and pepperoni pizza. Man, I'm such a fic-whore, I'll do it anywhere, lol. See what this 'ship does to me?_

_Rating: FRT (Fan Rated suitable for Teens)_

_Spoilers: None, I don't think. But if there are, they're very minor ones, and the whole season is fair game._

_Content Warning: Some language (Ray's potty thoughts, lol) and sexual content ahead. Pretty hot; not quite an M, but if you're easily offended, you might wanna steer clear._

_Disclaimer: ER and its characters are the property of Michael Crichton, John Wells, Amblin Entertainment and Constant C Productions. No infringement intended, please don't sue, yadda yadda yadda.

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**Acquired Taste**

**© 2005, By: Ash Carroll (a.k.a. ShadowDiva)

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Ray swallowed his pizza and glanced at his roommate. "Aren't you gonna eat?"

She'd managed to keep her temper in check all day. All bloody day, she'd plastered a smile on her face; pretending she hadn't seen what she'd seen last night. Returning home after their shift, her mood had worsened, but still, she'd managed to be civil. He'd suggested pizza for dinner and she'd agreed with a forced smile, leaving him to order it while she changed in her room, all the while congratulating herself on keeping such excellent control of her temper.

Then the pizza arrived and it all went to hell.

She shifted her glare from the open pizza box to his face before rising wordlessly from the couch and storming into the kitchen. He followed to stand near the table, watching as she stalked about, slamming dishes and cupboard doors.

"What'd I do?"

_Intent on a glass of water, she stepped out of her room and stopped short as she looked down the hall and into the kitchen. Ray was standing near the sink with one of his groupies, the redhead slobbering kisses over his neck as his fingers curled around her upper arms._

_Jealousy burned through her and she turned away, retreating unseen back into the safety of her bedroom._

Oh, he'd done plenty. Problem was, none of it had been with her.

"Nothing," she answered flatly.

He snorted. "And that's why you're in such a good mood. Would you just tell me what the hell I did so I can apologize and get it over with?"

Right, so he could feel better. Well, let him stew. She didn't _want_ his bloody apology; she _wanted_ to stay mad at him. She was being irrational, she knew; it wasn't _his_ fault she was too repressed to send out signals he could read. But it _was_ his damn bloody fault that the only time he ever noticed her at all - outside of dumping his last minute patients on her to get to his stupid gigs - was when she was angry.

Well, so be it.

She pinned him with a glare. "I _hate_ pepperoni. You _know_ I hate it, and of course that's exactly what you bloody ordered!"

"_Pizza?_" He looked incredulous. "This is about _pizza_? God, Neela, I'll just pick it off your side, then."

Bugger and bollocks, he just didn't get it.

She threw up her hands. "That's not the bloody point!"

"Then what _is_ the point!"

"_I don't exist!_"

"What-"

"Just once it'd be nice to be seen! As something other than the person you dump your patients on so you can leave early! I'd like to be able to sleep after a long shift instead of being woken up by _you_ at bloody three in the morning when you decide to crawl home from your gig! And I'd _like_ to get up in the middle of the night without having to see you and your groupie tartlets _pawing_ each other in our kitchen! So no, Ray, this isn't about bloody _pizza_! This is about _you_ being too bloody _blind_ to see what's right in front of you!"

**0-0-0-0-0-0**

Ray watched Neela clamp a hand over her mouth, as if she could somehow stuff the words back in - his mind working to process her tirade while he stood in stunned silence.

He was still trying to figure out where all this anger was coming from; she was fine all day yesterday, which meant that it had to have been something from last nigh-

_"And I'd **like** to get up in the middle of the night without having to see you and your little groupie tartlets **pawing** each other in our kitchen!"_

He blinked. _Oh shit, she **saw** that? Obviously not the whole thing, because otherwise she'd have seen me push her away, but-_

The rest of her words finally caught up with him.

_"This is about **you** being too bloody **blind** to see what's right in front of you!"_

_To see what's right in front of - Holy fuck. She's jealous. Of me. With another woman. Who means nothing to me. Because she feels the same way about me that I do about - Holy **fuck**!_

A movement caught his eye. She was trying to get past him. Fortunately, the table was in the way, and it slowed her down, giving him enough time to react.

Moving quickly, he positioned himself in front of her, pinning her between his body and the counter around the sink. Her eyes widened like a deer caught in the headlights, and she stood stock-still, barely breathing. Gazes locked, they stared at each other until Neela finally broke the silence.

Her voice shook slightly, matching the small shudder that coursed through her body. "Let go of me, Ray."

He silently refused her demand and she struggled to get away, but he held her fast; biting back a groan as he pressed harder against her, using his body weight to hold her in place.

He kept his gaze on her face, heart hammering in his chest, voice remarkably steady. "How much did you see last night?"

She gave an annoyed snort. "Enough."

He felt her breath catch as his knuckles grazed her cheek, voice dipping to a seductive whisper. "Sure about that?"

"She was slobbering all over your neck, Ray," she bit out, "I may not have been round the block as many times as you, but I wasn't raised in a cave."

"So you didn't watch the whole thing, then."

She looked at him in disgust. "Why would I?"

Ray's eyes never left her face. "To see me push her away." He leaned in close to murmur in her ear as her eyes fluttered closed. "And tell her I had someone else in mind."

"Wh-why would you do that," she wondered, breathless.

His breath danced over her skin in a whisper, hand coming up to caress her face, thumb running across her cheekbone. "Because _she_ doesn't do this to me, Neela. _You_ do."

Her eyes snapped open as he ground his hips against hers, enough for her to feel his body's reaction to being so close to her.

"R-"

His name was lost in a pizza-kiss, somewhere between her parted lips and his tongue, and he wrapped his arms possessively around her waist as he ground her against the counter. She whimpered in response, clawing at his shoulders to get as close to him as possible.

He tore his mouth from Neela's, only when his need for oxygen surpassed his need for her. He gazed down at her as they fought to catch their breath, cupping her face in both hands, thumb caressing her bottom lip. Pulling his mouth back down to hers, she played her tongue against his lips until he parted them for her, deepening the kiss until they were out of breath again.

Smirking down at her, Ray stilled her hands as she reached for him again. "I thought you hated pepperoni."

"I did," she confessed, shooting him a meaningful look, "but I think I've acquired a taste for it; I just can't seem to get enough."

He leaned in again, still smirking. "I know exactly what you mean," he murmured, kissing her again as they stumbled their way to his room, leaving a trail of clothing in their wake.

In the living room, dinner was growing cold. But in the bedroom - amid the sweaty, writhing tangle of limbs - it was just heating up.

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The End 


End file.
